Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso Ep. 12: More of the same

— Kousei doesn’t want to play the song that Kaori had picked out for them, and you’ll find out why in just a short bit. I mean, there’s really only one explanation, and it’s a rather predictable one. Nevertheless, Kaori doesn’t budge, because she has to have it her way. Man, there sure is a lot of teamwork in this partnership!

— Kaori later wonders why Kousei is reluctant to perform “Love’s Sorrow.” Can you guess why? Can you? Yep, that dead, abusive witch is back! Yaaaaay! Nothing really changes. Kousei is still traumatized. What? Did you really think a corny ass smile at the end of some performance would undo years and years of systematic abuse?

— Hiroko then claims that Kousei’s singular act of defiance actually pleased his mother. Uh, I don’t know about that. That sounds a bit like revisionist history. That also sounds a bit like someone trying to push a certain agenda. It’s pretty obvious that Hiroko wants Kousei to live up to his piano-playing potential. As such, I wouldn’t necessarily trust that she’s being entirely truthful. Maybe she isn’t trying to deliberately lie to the kid, but I certainly think she has rose-colored glasses on since she used to be such good friends with the kid’s mother.

— And again, the story’s priority is all wrong. Our protagonist wonders if he can ever atone for his sins, and in response to that, Hiroko encourages him to keep playing the piano so that he can hear his mother’s voice again. Again, I don’t have a problem with him playing the piano. But why should he be forgiven? What the fuck has he done wrong? He’s the one who was abused. What on earth does he have to apologize for? For trying to forget his toxic, abusive mother? What on earth is wrong with that? This show, man.

— Kousei finally meets Kaori’s parents, and they get fed a bunch of caeki. And apparently, her parents know all about him. He’s a veritable super star in the competition world. But yeah, caeki. These shows are full of tropes in their own way.

— I mean, what would people think if the genders are reversed? Oh, I’m not saying arguing that guys should be able to hit girls. I just want to know why we can’t stop being asses to each other. C’mon, stop hitting people and thinking that it’s funny.

— A friend wonders if Kaori and Kousei are on the music college track. After all, they’re not taking summer school and studying super mad to past all those exams like everyone else. Kaori confesses that she’s not thinking about the future. It’s just more foreshadowing that, well, she probably doesn’t have a future. Y’know, her illness and whatever. That doesn’t excuse her selfish behavior, but hey!

— In any case, it’s not something that Kousei is currently aware of. Instead, he continues to have a defeatist attitude about his love life.

— Yeah, Kousei! Your childhood “friend” is right! Why did you have to drown and inconvenience her?!

— Holy shit, how can you write a line like this and not laugh at how pretentious it sounds?

— So the day of the gala concert has finally arrived, and Emi is being her usual tsundere self. The story is sneakily harem-like. Or maybe harem conventions have become so commonplace in anime stories that we no longer raise an eyebrow at them when they crop in places that they don’t belong. I mean, why is it that a story about a traumatized piano player also seems to have all three of the major female characters as a potential love interest?

— Somehow, Kaori’s a no show. They’re trying desperately to reach the girl on her cell, but she’s not picking up. Hiroko tries to ask if one of the performers would be willing to go on stage before Kousei and Kaori are suppoesd to play, but haha, look at this kid’s response:

He then goes on to say, “Her playing’s such a mess, no wonder her lifestyle’s all messed up too.” Good lord, this story is ridiculously over the top. It’s about possibilities or impossibilities. It’s about… tone, I suppose. And the story’s tone is laughably melodramatic.

— Anyway, Kousei is emboldened to show up the kid, so he claims that the spotlight will belong to him and Kaori instead. Yeah, you said it, man! Stand up for yourself! I just wish you could stand up for yourself more often, and not just to little kids that are deliberately portrayed as megadweebs.

— Anyway, Kousei takes the stage by himself. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until next week’s episode before we can see if he’ll really have to perform all by his lonesome.

8 thoughts on “Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso Ep. 12: More of the same”

Well, you’re not a show’s MC unless you got at least three chicks romantically interested in you, no matter how meh you are. The universe will automatically choose three or more “lucky” ladies just because. Girls have it tough.

Yep, just more of the same. Although really, I don’t think anybody can expect a tonal shift in a show midway. So we’re riding this hiiiiilarious-abuse train up until the end. But yeah, let’s also try and be heavy and shit.

I do find it kind of funny for a “music”-based show, there’s not really that much great music going around.

Well, I don’t highlight the violence because I expect the studio to have suddenly decided to see why it’s so toxic. I highlight the violence only to hammer it home to the people who still think that it is funny and just slapstick. The truth is, it’s horribly sexist, and this isn’t simply a “Poor men!” problem. This cuts both ways as it seems to imply that girls are just girls, and their actions thus can’t have any serious repercussions.

More of the same, this anime isn’t going anywhere, I don’t know what was the point of last presentation that lasted 3 or 4 episodes other than introduce some new characters, they did nothing to Kousei’s character.
– I’m perplex about Hiroko encouraging Kousei to fight back against that pianist kid… oh lord they’re all assholes.
– B.H. Unniversity since 1825… hmm.
– I wonder where’s Tsubaki’s boyfriend, did I miss something?

So. what’s the point of that oh so magical scene of the spirit of Kousei’s mother appearing and “approving” that performance in the previous episode? Why are we even going back to this plotline again? And why the heck is the series trying to present the mother in a positive light now, when they have been portraying him as an abusive witch for more than 10 episodes straight?

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